Category: issues

“If you think restaurant critics from mainstream newspapers, television and magazines are tough on the food industry, you haven’t spent much time in cyberspace. Online message boards, gossip columns, city restaurant guides and food blogs are proliferating and having a profound influence on where consumers spend their eating dollars. The once-genteel discipline of restaurant reviewing has turned into a free-for-all, celebrated by some as a new-world democracy but seen by others as populist tyranny.”

An attempt by parents in a Minneapolis suburb to have Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” removed from school curricula is sparking a discussion over the place of the word “nigger” in literature. So far, the book hasn’t been removed, but parents are appealing to the superintendent to intercede.

“Funding for the arts has fallen in Ohio in the last six years, with the Ohio Arts Council budget suffering a more than 30 percent decline.” The latest budget proposal from the state’s governor would stop the slide, but the council is still a long way from the $32m it received in 2001.

“Twenty-one per cent of girls were victims of cyber-bullying last year, while ten per cent of boys were victimised. Fifteen per cent of pupils reported suffering harassment via text or the Internet.”

“The world’s first industrial city is hoping to show the world a thing or two about innovation with a festival of the new works and world premieres: 25 specially commissioned productions, performances and projects will be seen and heard across Manchester between June 28 and July 15.”

“The Smithsonian Institution’s eight art museums and galleries are perpetually underfunded, have uneven collections and leadership, and ‘have seldom lived up to their names’ as national museums, according to a report by a committee of outside museum directors. The conclusions, which will be released today, recommend reorganizing the Smithsonian’s arts institutions to eliminate duplication, increase funding and foster more collaboration among them.”

When Canada’s Conservative Party took over the leading role in national government last year, the country’s arts leaders were assured that the change would not mean a wholesale gutting of Canada’s cultural subsidies. But the Tory budget for 2007-08 reflects a largely indifferent attitude towards the arts.

“Opera star Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has won a court case in Australia after she cancelled a 2005 tour because of fears she would be bombarded with underwear. The 63-year-old singer cancelled shows with Australian rock star John Farnham after seeing a concert DVD where he caught underwear thrown by fans. The concert promoter sued for A$2m (£815,000), claiming it had lost money on publicity costs and ticket sales. A judge rejected the claim saying no contract had been finalised.”

Can Edinburgh and its venerable summer festivals fend off the latest challenge from Manchester’s new International Festival? Don’t assume it’ll be easy. “Manchester is already competing with Edinburgh for media attention. Art critics have already singled out shows as must-see events… The event has hired a major London arts PR agency,” and all this comes as Edinburgh is transitioning to a new director.

“The view from Beijing today is that Britain is no longer a world power. In the 20th century Britain declined quickly, to be only a regional power now is the blunt assessment of a Chinese contributor to the catalogue for Britain Meets the World.But there is a fascination with how Britain attained global dominance in the Georgian era.”